Milk
by TurkFox
Summary: Alister often has to do things he doesn't want to do. Still, there's always milk - that makes everything better. Rating may go up in future chapters.


**Setting:** shortly before Legend begins  
**Rating:** T for now but definitely going up to M soon  
**Warnings:** Just language and alcohol. For now… ;)  
**Pairings:** not telling yet!  
**Notes:** I'd written a roleplay profile for Alister and was inspired by some of the things I'd written. Also, I needed a vehicle for the pairing you might see in later chapters (if I decide to go with it). Have a look and let me know what you think!

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**Chapter 1 - Whiskey**

A knock on the library door broke Alister's concentration, and he sighed as he looked up from the book he'd been reading, before calling, "Come in!" He knew from the fact that the knock was even present that it couldn't be Zip - the American would never have stopped for formalities such as that. As he watched, the well-dressed figure of Winston appeared into view with a rather hopeful look on his face.

"Alister, I was wondering - if you're not too busy, that is - if you could help us get ready downstairs. Lara wants some of the more valuable decorations moved for tonight," he asked, the hopefulness spilling over into the tone of his voice.

'_Ah yes,'_ Alister thought, '_the party.'_ Well, not so much a party as a gathering of intellectuals. At least, that's what Lara was aiming for. It had been Professor Martin's idea in the first place and Lara had agreed somewhat reluctantly, if only to get him to drop the subject for a while. However, the Professor's idea of good company was Lara's idea of hell - especially considering the loud, obnoxious American who'd been invited… With people like that around, it was only sensible that she'd want her artifacts and ornaments moved out of the reach of greedy paws. It wasn't really something he wanted to help with, but figured it would be easier just to do it and get it out of the way.

"Very well," Alister replied, using a handwritten sheet to mark his page as he stood up and moved round from behind the desk. Normally, he wouldn't leave the library unless it was absolutely unavoidable - being out there usually meant having to deal with Zip and all of his annoying habits, such as the loud music, junk food, smoking… the list was endless. His only ventures out of a day were to swim - usually before Zip had even emerged from his room in the morning - or to get milk. He didn't drink tea or coffee, much to Winston's confusion, but he really did have a fondness for milk.

Reaching the main hall, which he assumed was to be the setting for the evening's events, Alister saw Zip struggling to carry a giant vase through into the other room. For a moment, he entered a debate inside his help - watch Zip struggle and risk Lara's wrath when the vase broke and he hadn't helped, or help the man out even though he couldn't stand him. Reluctantly, he sped across and caught the other side of it, holding it up as they moved through into Lara's study, where they placed it down carefully in a corner before walking back through to the hall.

"Thanks, man," Zip said, meaning to give what was supposed to be a congratulatory slap-on-the-back but actually almost knocking the English man over, though he remained oblivious as always. Alister huffed in annoyance and hunted for something else to do to take his mind off it.

A short time later, while he was carrying a plant out onto the porch, Alister found himself standing in a cloud of smoke. As he sat the plant down, he made an exaggerating coughing-and-flailing motion as he hunted for the culprit, although he knew exactly who it was already. "Zip," he spoke in a low, irritated tone. "I have no intention of dying just because of you and your… _disgusting_ habits," he continued, being sure to make the word 'disgusting' stand out above the rest to get his point across. Fumbling in the inside pocket of his jacket, he fished out a white inhaler with a green lid[1] and took it, holding his breath while he put it back in his pocket.

Releasing the air, he was about to speak again when Zip spoke. "Hey man, I didn't know you had one of those things, I'm not psychic!" he replied, taking a final drag before throwing the cigarette to the ground. "For a guy, you sure seem to suffer a lot with PMT," he added, before swaggering back into the house, leaving Alister sulking nearby.

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Seven-thirty had arrived and Alister descended the staircase in to the main hall, where many archaeologists, historians and professors had gathered, dressed up to the nines and mingling. Alister himself was wearing his favourite suit, the brown pinstripe one with the matching shirt, open just the right amount. The alcohol was already flowing and he could actually feel the buzz in the atmosphere. This scared him. He had a habit of messing up quite badly in social situations, particularly as nerves made the stammer - which had been very bad when he was a child - resurface. A drink was in order, he thought, but not alcoholic because he really didn't make a very good drunk.

Returning from the kitchen with a glass of milk, he stood near the door as he surveyed the room in the hope of being able to avoid his old professors from Oxford. They hadn't been too keen on his obsession with conspiracy theories or his inability to just admit that not everything was connected to everything else. His thesis was still in a filing cabinet upstairs, unfinished after many years due to his theories - and every time he ran into a member of the university's staff, they hassled him about when it might be finished. No, he definitely couldn't end up in a conversation with one of them now.

Instead, he looked around for a conversation he could tag on to. Near the entrance to the tech room, leaning against the wall, stood a man with piercing blue eyes and light, messy hair. It took a moment for Alister to realise he was looking at Alex West, a fellow archaeologist who'd had dealings with his current employer. From what he could remember, Lara had worked with this man at some time in the past but he'd stolen some artifact that she'd found. Evidently, the professor had more trust in West than Lara did, since he'd brought the other man as a guest to bypass the fact he wasn't on the guest list. He recalled the words 'loud' and 'obnoxious' being used to describe this man before.

He was about to move on and see who else he could find, when he spotted Professor Martin trying to leave a conversation to catch him. Panicking, he turned back to Alex and shuffled over as quickly as possible, leaving the Professor where he was. "Hello, I don't believe we've met," he started, holding a hand out for the other man to shake. "Alister Fletcher, archaeologist. Although, that's probably quite obvious since I'm here… er…" he rambled, wishing his brain worked a little better. "Alex West," the man drawled, accepting the hand and shaking it firmly. "I worked with Lara a few years back. We didn't exactly part on good terms, though…"[2]

Alister nodded slowly and was considering what to say next, when Zip trudged over. The man had put on a shirt, tie and suit jacket, though he still wore his trademark jeans and sneakers and the shirt was anything but tucked in. The tie was just a disgrace. "Zip, are you completely incapable of not making a show of yourself?" he asked, sighing.

Zip looked offended and with a tone of mock annoyance, he replied, "At least I'm not drinking _milk_ at a party!" This caused Alister to blush and try to hide the glass of milk behind him, but it was too late - Alex hadn't noticed before, but Zip pointing it out made it blatant.

"How sweet…" mocked Alex, a smirk on his face. Zip laughed, glad to have someone else on his side for once - Lara and Winston usually told him to stop picking on Alister, even though there was so much to wind up about.

"Go away," the archaeologist answered, glaring at Zip. The man approached his colleague, producing a bottle of whiskey from behind his back.

"Don't you want a real drink?" Zip asked. "Or are you too scared?" he added, smirking. Alister really was a wimp of the finest order and he needed toughening up a bit. When Zip reached the wall where the other two men stood, he held up the empty glasses he carried in his other hand. Sitting them down on a nearby table, he filled them up with what was definitely more than a double measure and handed one to Alister. "Drink."

Alister accepted the glass, but didn't put it to his lips just yet. He didn't want to drink, especially after what happened the last time - he'd woken up on a roundabout in the centre of Abingdon, clinging to a street sign and with no memory of how he got there. He'd only had five or six drinks on a night out with Zip, which was always a bad experience at the best of times. He still had suspicions that the American had been involved in getting him to the roundabout, but with no memories he had no proof.

"I'm really not sure this is a good idea…" he started, but a dark gaze, as well as a blue one, was focussed on him. '_Maybe just this one, then he'll go away,'_ he thought, before downing the contents of the glass in one. Shuddering at the taste, he lowered the glass and prepared to be left alone. That was a little too optimistic, it seemed, as Zip was coming towards him with the bottle again.

"I really shouldn't…" he attempted futilely, since Zip was already pouring more of the liquid into the archaeologist's glass. With a heavy sigh, Alister downed this second glass. Judging by the measures Zip was pouring, the archaeologist had probably had the equivelant of four whiskeys now. That wasn't stopping the ex-hacker though, as he poured yet another glass, even fuller than the one before. Already, Alister had started to feel a little strange, not really having the full mental control to stop Zip from taking the glass and pouring it into his mouth - or to stop himself from swallowing it…

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9.12pm

"…and I said 'no, I co…co…can't!' bu' 'e wouldn' listen, that'sh jus' wha' he'sh like!" Alister was telling an elderly historian, and was about to continue with his story when suddenly he gripped hold of the man's arm for balance. "Whyseverythingmoving?!" he said in a panicked, hushed voice. "Zip," he continued, catching sight of the other man nearby, "dontellanyonebutIthinktheroomsmoving!" It was at this point that Zip, as well as Alex who had been standing not far off, made eye contact and seemed to have exactly the same thought, running forward just in time to catch Alister as he passed out.

Quickly, the two men carried the archaeologist up to the first floor and round the corner out of site. "What do we do now?" Zip asked his fellow American, not really sure where to put him for the best. "I mean, his room's really far… Would he be better of in the library?"

Alex pondered it for a moment, then took hold of the man's feet again. "That'll do, grab his arms," he replied and the two of them lifted Alister up again, nudging through the door and shuffling down the corridor into the library, where they put him down on the sofa. The man was out cold, although he seemed to be more asleep than unconscious as he rolled into a more comfortable position and started to suck his thumb.

"That'll give me some ammo…" Zip mused, a smirk on his face once again at having something else to tease Alister about now. "Right, back to the party," he announced, more to himself than the Alex, and wandered back out to head down to the main hall.

Alex remained where he was for a moment to make sure the other man was alright. It seemed a few of his shirt buttons had come undone during the lifting process, but rather than try to reach in amongst the man's arms to fasten them up again, Alex took off his own suit jacket and threw it over Alister's torso. He frowned, wondering if perhaps he could have said something to stop Zip. '_Oh well,'_ he thought, '_Nothing I can do about it now. I'll just have to wait until Lara finds out and decides to blame me for the whole thing…'_

Walking to the door, he stopped just in the doorframe to look back at the sofa. "Goodnight, Alister," he whispered, before closing the door firmly behind him. On the sofa, the sleeping man shifted position again, deep in a dream.

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[1] The green one is Atrovent, which I'm pretty sure isn't a reliever on its own - but hey, it's less than a foot away from me on my desk and it was the only name I had offhand. XD

[2] You've just got to pretend the films didn't happen. I wanted to include Alex in the story, though, so you might want to borrow the knowledge from the film that he stole the prayer wheels Lara found - possibly the ones in the second game? :P

There you go: chapter one! Review and let me know what you thought, and I'll try and write the next bit soon. xDD


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